Gee (song)
Encyclopedia
"Gee", released in June 1953 by The Crows
The Crows
The Crows were an American R & B singing group who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only major hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group...

, is a song which has been credited as the first Rock n’ Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 hit by a rock and roll group. It is a doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...

 song, written by William Davis and Viola Watkins, and recorded by The Crows on the independent label, Rama Records
Rama Records
Rama Records was a record label founded by George Goldner in 1953 in New York City. It recorded doo-wop groups such as The Crows and The Harptones....

, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in February 1953. It charted in April 1954, one year later. It took a year to get recognized on Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...

. It landed No.2 on the rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 chart and No. 14 on the pop chart. It was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records. Recorded on an independent label, it was one of the first such R&B records to crossover to the wider pop market.

Song

The song starts with a few bars of nonsense:
duh-duda-duh-duda-duh-duda-duh-duh-duba

followed by the lead vocal;
Oh-ho-ho-ho gee,my oh-oh gee-hee, well oh-ho gee, why I love that girl.

then the group:
Love that girl!


The vocals are infectiously upbeat with wonderful harmonies and use of nonsense syllables, sounding like enthusiastic street-corner singing. The modified jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...

 instrumental backup, with its infectious melody and Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...

- like guitar solo, is the perfect accompaniment.

History

The Crows formed in 1951 as a typical street corner doo-wop group and were discovered at Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...

's Wednesday night talent show by talent agent Cliff Martinez, and brought to independent producer George Goldner who had just set up tiny new indepent Rama Records
Rama Records
Rama Records was a record label founded by George Goldner in 1953 in New York City. It recorded doo-wop groups such as The Crows and The Harptones....

 label.

The Crows
The Crows
The Crows were an American R & B singing group who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only major hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group...

 were the first group signed and the first to record. The first songs they recorded were as back-up to singer and pianist Viola Watkins. The song "Gee" was the third song recorded during the first recording session, on February 10, 1953. It was put together in a few minutes by group member, William Davis, with Viola Watkins also being credited as co-writer. Watkins also played piano on and co-arranged the song. It has been suggested that the guitar break, based on the traditional Scottish tune "The Campbells are Coming", may have been played by session guitarist Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes
Tiny Grimes
Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker...

.

The song was first released as the B-side of a ballad, "I Love You So". However, radio stations began turning it over and playing "Gee", first in Philadelphia and later in New York and Los Angeles. By January 1954 it had sold 100,000 copies, and by April entered the national R&B and pop charts
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, rising to # 2 R&B and # 14 pop. Although the song became a huge hit in early 1954, a year after it was recorded, the Crows were a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...

, as none of the follow-up records released had any chart success. The group broke up a few months after "Gee" dropped off the Hit Parade
Hit parade
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by sales and/or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936...

.

Legacy

The Crows were of the first doo wop groups and one of the first "bird" groups. "Gee" was one of the first rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 hit records. It has also been called the first rock and roll record because it was an original composition and had a quick dance beat.

Although the Orioles' song "Crying in the Chapel
Crying in the Chapel
"Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn for his son Darrell to sing. Darrell recorded it while still in high school in 1953, along with Artie's band the Rhythm Riders. It became a local hit and publishers got a hold of it and it went nationwide. He released the original version as...

" is frequently called the first R&B record to crossover to a big white audience, it is actually a cover of a country song. "Gee" and its b-side "I Love You So" are considered seminal, as it is an original song by an all but amateur group. It encapsulated all that has been written later about neighborhood kids singing on corners, and retains that wonderfully amateurish feel.

The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

 recorded a brief adaptation of the song as part of the uncompleted Smile project. It was included on Brian Wilson's
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

 2004 solo recording
Smile (Brian Wilson album)
Smile, sometimes typeset with the idiosyncratic partial capitalization SMiLE, or referred to as Brian Wilson Presents Smile is a solo album by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Van Dyke Parks released on September 28, 2004 on CD and two-disc vinyl LP...

 of the album.

Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

's Mothers Of Invention played the song some times during their first European Tour (September-October 1967). A live recording can be found on Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

's official bootleg live album 'Tis the Season to Be Jelly included in the first volume of the collection of bootleg recordings untitled Beat The Boots
Beat the Boots
Beat the Boots is a collection of bootleg recordings by Frank Zappa which were originally distributed illegally but were released officially by Rhino Entertainment in 1991. The recordings were available as individual CDs and as an LP or cassette box set...

 released in July 1991.

In popular culture

  • The Crows' recording features in the film American Graffiti
    American Graffiti
    American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...

     (1973).
  • The Crows' recording features in the film Cry-Baby
    Cry-Baby
    Cry-Baby is a 1990 American teen musical film written and directed by John Waters. It stars Johnny Depp as 1950s teen rebel "Cry-Baby" Wade Walker, and also features an expansive ensemble cast that includes Amy Locane, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Kim McGuire, David Nelson, Susan Tyrrell, and...

    (1990).

External links

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